Offense punchless again as Cubs swept by Brewers at Wrigley

Nothing but sour notes in Wrigley Field on the home side this week?

Does it count that Cubs organist Ryan Langhoff played a rendition of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” that was concert-hall worthy? Or that an a cappella group from Northwestern, Thunk, crushed the anthem one night, and Mariachi Herencia de Mexico did so the next?

Oh, you were thinking something more along the lines of singing “Go, Cubs, Go,” the victory ditty that before this week rocked Wrigley Field on 15 consecutive dates?

Sorry, Cubs fans. Nothing but the sounds of silence as the Brewers swept their three-game set against the Cubs, whose occupancy of first place in the National League Central was served an eviction notice by the northern invaders.

Oh, there also was a discordant chorus of boos unleashed by a disenchanted crowd of 39,459 at Wrigley Field disenchanted by an unseemly display of baseball that included:

• More nonexistent offense, one hit and 10 strikeouts through six innings against Brewers lefty Kyle Harrison, who at one point set down 15 consecutive Cubs batters and didn’t need a 100 mph fastball to do it;

• A shocking three-base error by center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong that led to David Hamilton chasing two other Brewers across the plate;

• A premature departure by Cubs starter Edwin Cabrera, who left with a blister on his pitching hand after one pitch in the fourth;

• An ongoing Whiff-o-rama by Ian Happ, who had been such a key contributor to the Cubs’ offense during the two 10-game winning streaks but struck out three times Wednesday and now has struck out 13 times in his last 23 at-bats, including seven times in the three games against the Brewers. Happ has now struck out more times than Munetaka Murakami;

• A run-scoring, boos-inducing wild pitch by the out-of-sorts reliever Phil Maton, still searching for sanity after a horrific stretch.

The Cubs lost their fourth consecutive series and for the ninth time in 11 games.

Entering Wednesday’s game, the pitching staff had a collective ERA of 5.59. The offense was batting a collective .192. Opponents had outscored the Cubs, 54 to 31 and outhomered the Cubs, 20-7.

Three Cubs hitters — Happ (.118), Crow-Armstrong (.118) and Dansby Swanson (.161) — were all hitting below .200. A fourth, Moises Ballesteros, has been in a slump even longer: In his last 15 games, he is batting a microscopic .061, (3-for-49), with one home run and four RBI.

The team has been especially helpless with men in scoring position, going 13-for-89 (.146) in this stretch. Hitting with RISP has been a seasonlong struggle for Seiya Suzuki (.140, 6-for-43), Happ (.148, 8-for-54) and Swanson (.178, 8-for-45).

Yes it’s ugly now, manager Craig Counsell said, but he insisted this, too, shall pass.

“This is a normal season that many of these guys have experienced,’’ Counsell said, “and that means you kind of know what to expect.

‘‘One of the beauties of the schedule is there are going to be losses, but you get to come to play the next day and you just have to continually turn the page very, very fast.’’